... and off to Zalm

As I had expected, I have been told to assume substitute duty in Zalm, starting today. This has been a regular experience of most doctors: to be sent elsewhere as soon as they arrive back in the kingdom after their vacation. So it has been with me! The precipitant, in my case, was the fact that there was already a locum paediatrician working with my colleague Dr. Afzal. This locum paediatrician is a Palestinian specialist from Children's Hospital, Taif. As a result of THREE of us being present in Al Muwayh, this shift, for me, was predicted to occur within a few days. The shift, though, has occurred within a day of my arrival ... so here I go to Zalm. As it is, I was without internet for most of the time here in Al Muwayh. What will happen when I reach Zalm is anybody's guess. I may not be able to post here or connect with the net while being there, except for short presences on the e-mail or on Facebook.

As and when the net connectivity is available, I will keep my readers posted.

Thanks for reading.

Back in the Kingdom

On the 15th of May, I flew back to Jeddah and reached Taif in the evening. This being a Friday, I had to wait for 2 nights before completing my re-induction formalities in the Health Directorate. As I was more than a month late in re-joining after my vacation, I was asked to fill out explanation forms and was told that, as per the rules, my contract had lapsed and would have to be re-activated after agreement from the higher-ups. The entire process took up most of Sunday. I had a few more issues to clear, so I made a decision to stay for one more night and complete the remaining work on Monday morning. Thus, as I write this, I am happy to inform you that I have completed all the remaining issues and will travel back to Al Muwayh by the evening.

The last three days have been relaxed. I slept a lot on Friday, removing the layers of tiredness from my face! On Saturday, I roamed around a little, meeting some guys I know, and spent a bit of time in the "jawal souq" (mobile market) and got a few problems with my Note 3 ironed out. On Sunday, most of the day was spent in the health directorate. 

Now that I am back in KSA, I have decided to work till the end of the current contract. I may or may not renew this contract, depending on what happens during the ensuing 4+ months of my present contract. I will be penalised for my delayed return from India. Already, they have deducted one months' house rent from my yearly allowance. There is a possibility that they may also deduct one months' salary.

Anyways ... let whatever is to happen, happen. I am ready for anything now. But, yes, I am really ready for any kind of challenge.

Returned from London Trip

Some personal issues prevented me from updating this blog since the last fortnight. For this, please excuse me. I had originally planned something else, but, in the end, prudence wins and I have decided to return to KSA to complete my contract for the fourth and final year of work. I fly back on the 15th of this month. Hopefully, I should arrive there by noon local time. I would visit the health directorate on the following seventeenth, explain why I was returning late, and then proceed to Al Muwayh to resume my duties. 

London was simply unbelievable. The conference itself was miles ahead of anything I have experienced in India. They had a grand venue, the East end of ExCel London. There was a very large central auditorium with a capacity of over a thousand delegates; this is where they had all the plenary meets and the chief or invited speakers. ExCel itself is a large venue with a long building that connects the East end with its West end. Each end is served by a station on Dock Line Railway (the driver-less railway or DRL); while Customs House serves its west end, Prince Regent station serves its east one. 

My trip to London was a contest win for me from the British Medical Journal, and my travel from Mumbai and back, my stay and my conference fees had already been paid for by the BMJ. I was lodged in a TraveLodge hotel that has opened a very short sub-1 km distance away from the conference venue. 

While attending the conference, I was occupied also with networking with other doctors, visiting the different stalls at the exhibition, picking up tips on good practice in the field of quality management and patient safety, enjoying the dry British food on offer (packed lunch usually) and also going out in the evenings and for the full day on the last day of the conference to do local sight-seeing. I visited various attractions including the London Eye, the London Dungeons, the British Museum (a very small portion, as not much time was available to me), the Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum, London Cruise on the Thames, London viewing by night from a bus (it takes you on a tour through all the important landmarks in Central London), and an outer viewing of the Buckingham Palace, Westminster Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Royal Albert Theater, Shakespeare Globe Theater, the Shard, etc. My official tour was to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children on the 21st of April and it was a great experience.

On the whole, I had a very fulfilling trip.